Slowly working on this costume again Had a big knock to my confidence but some RL members have been so generous that it's coming back

So I cut apart my last test fit bodice lining to see if I could make a nice seamed version, and yes The fabric is just crisp enough that a dart makes for a very pointy end. The crispness also means I need to clip the curves but that is fine

So I finally have cut every part from the crepe. Some of the pieces are weird because in order to fit smoothly at the armscye but create folds you need to remember a curved seam can be sewn flatter

So the bodice pieces are all too big and need to be stitched by hand to the lining and then the bodice assembled. They need to be clipped to shape too, as this is all two layers I'll be also have to stagger the seam allowance width too._________________facebook | website | tumblr | dA
Armourer, sculptor, seamstress, tailor.

Ooh, well I managed to separate a rib in the time since I posted so that has made everything, I mean every slow down. However I'm back at getting this done!

All the beading is done, the bodice and skirt is ready for final fitting. The hood is ready to be stitched down and the cape has been reshaped with a little final flare to the "sleeve" side (this cape is like a victorian dolman wrap in some regards.)

So the drapery sewn on with a mix of triple stitch (to allow for stretch and clipping seam allowance to the tiniest possible) zig zag (esposed top edge that will be covered by the hood and cape) and hand worked backstitch!

Here the hood and cape are pinned on to make sure they are indeed going to cover the exposed inner!

I also adjusted the skirt gathers. I don't think I have a photo so I'll gran one soon- I sewed the skirt shell to the skirt lining and then also sewed in bias tape. I then sewed through the bias, the seam allowances, and the skirt lining to make a really solid support to hold that curve in place. After that I hand seed the other side of the bis tape down.
I also used the bias tape to control the gathers at the very top of the front skirt panel.

This gown uses all the couture techniques of hidden support there is. The gathers and fold are supported internally.

I forgot I used a silver thread in amongst the the black to mimic the crackle of the original beads. there are though 8mm flat beads and I do have spare I'll continue to see if I can find extra for members who like me have not been able to find them for years at a time

So now I am preparing to stamp. I had a lovely grid and scaled print out. Well that did not work as the pattern is so irregular! So I printed a photo at scale to my height and use that to check my proportions all over.

So I laid the print out on my fabric and folded back every few inches to allow me to match the pattern with my own vectorised stamping pattern. the stamps themselves are great! I will share the stamps as soon as I get my costume in the application process and done. So that is spurring em to finish

There are about 50 of one of the stamps and 40 of the other. There are two stamps used, one mirrors the other and is used only in the back. I suspect that the border was created first and then the back filled in as I can only find the first stamp used in the border, even though it is reversed irregularly.

I used my cutting machine to cut some eva foam as my scissors and cutting knifes could not get down fine enough.

The foam is so dense though my knife got dull and also the machine skipped and I wound up with one of the repeats overlayed on itself.
I have a new knife and my cutting mat is so cut up I am just going to use spray adhesive to stick the foam down next time as I know I will want to have a back up set of stamps!

Here you can see the differencebetween my hand cut stamps and the new ones! The new stamps are narrower than the actual design to allow for the paint to spread when the stamp is applied.

the paint itself is a mix of textile medium from Joe Sonja and artist acrylic paints.

Acrylic paint is fine alone for on a polyester fabric as my last dress was but this is a rayon/cotton mix so the paint may wash away with laundering.
So I used about 1/2 medium to paint.

I also mixed the paint by eye from white and black paint so that i got a really nice silvery tone on the blue fabric. On paper it doesn't look silvery at all. It also is intended to be of a similar tone to the silver paint I'll need for my headpiece._________________facebook | website | tumblr | dA
Armourer, sculptor, seamstress, tailor.

I followed the grain of the fabric where I could see it and matched it.

There are obvious seams in the bodice and I followed them.

There are seams in the cape down the top of the arm and at the front to create a flared hem. I followed that- though I got a bit carried away and put too much fabric in after doubting my pattern.

If all the bodice front was covered in the double layer of fabric then the neck would be very bulky

The hood is double layered, folded in two so all edges are at the neck so that is four layers of fabric on the upper chest. Not only that they are gathered.
No costume maker is going to put extra fabric under all that. No one.

I have studied the practices of professionals for more than two decades, what i am doing here is accurate._________________facebook | website | tumblr | dA
Armourer, sculptor, seamstress, tailor.

Oh, I have no doubt about that. When I did this years back, we ended up with six layers at the most in places. That's a lot of fabric. Whenever I do this again I want to try and redesign it to have less fabric layers._________________DXO of Royalty & Senatorial detachment

A bit of overlap of what has been posted here but I'm a little under the pump right now with teaching and trying to help a fellow RL member and my first SCA event in a very long time. Gotta remember the fealty oath... I think it has changed._________________facebook | website | tumblr | dA
Armourer, sculptor, seamstress, tailor.

Bit of a break I'm back to working on this costume, just tidied the cloak last night, so that has now been pinned to my form- I may need to cut under the arms a bit more to give a bit of movement.
But the neckline is about where I want it, the hood is almost ready to stitch down as well

Just need to check I have all the pieces- and to test an idea about using abs for casting._________________facebook | website | tumblr | dA
Armourer, sculptor, seamstress, tailor.

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